Combined letter-sheet and envelop.



CT vv. GRAHAM. COMBINED LETTER SHEET ANI) ENVELOP.

l APPLICATION FILED OCT- II, 1912. I I I :I 9 I' Patented Apr.13, 1915 n IA IIIIIIIIII l IJ'IIIIIIIIIAX/ 1HE NORRIS PETERS 60,. PHOTU'LI TMO.. WASHING FUN. l)Y C.

CLAYTON Vf. GRAHAE, 0F DES MONES, IOVA.

COMBINED LETTER-S-EET AND ENVELOP.

risente.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Application filed october l1, 1912. Serial No. 725,810.

T0 all 'whom t may concern Be it known that 1, ,CLAYTON W. GRAHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Poll: and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Letter-Sheet and Envelop, of which the following is a speciiication.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of the class described, in which the finished product may be constructed readily, quickly and easily, and without the neces* sity of sticking any of the parts together, as in the construction of an ordinary envelop, to thereby provide a device of this class that may be constructed readily and in large quantities at a minimum of expense and with simple machinery.

A further object is to provide an article of the class described, in which an economy is etlected in the addressing of the envelop and letter, which economy is etiected by so constructing the article that the name of the addressee need appear only once and yet will be in position on the exterior of the envelop portion as an address for the envelop and the same address will also be in position at the head of the letter' to be in proper position to be read by a person reading the letter.

A further object is to provide an article of this class that may be folded up and sealed in less time and with a less number oiE operations than is now required in tolding up and sealing an ordinary letter and envelop, and further, to provide an article of the class described in which the envelop when sealed will entirely and completely inclose the letter, and which can be readily and easily opened.

A further object is to provide an article of this class in which the letter sheet and envelop are both formed in one piece, so that it is impossible for an operator to make the mistake of inclosing a certain letter sheet in the wrong envelop.

My invention consists in the construction of the article and its adaptation for the purposes and objects described as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a sheet of paper cut out in the form required for my improved article, the flap at the top edge being folded over the sheet to show the arrangement of the perforations and gummed portions. Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the article embodying my invention with the parts in the position they occupy when the article is in position to be written or printed upon or to be read. Fig. 3 shows a perspective view oit' the article embodying mv invention, illustrating the positions on the sheet that are occupied bv the portions of the tiap after the envelop has been opened. Fig. e shows a detail sectional view taken on the line lf-l of Fig. 5. Fig. oshows a plan view of the open letter sheet and envelop in its folder position, and Fig. G shows a detail sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will he seen that the entire envelop and letter sheet is composed of a single piece of paper which is straight and rectangular throughout, except for the two iiaps at the sides which will be hereinafter more fully described. BeG'inning at the top of the sheet, there is a narrow marginal portion of the sheet 'folded over the iront oi` the sheet. rlhis marginal portion comprises a sectional part 10 which is gummed at 11, and two end portions 12, each of which is gummed at 13. Between the parts 10 and 11 are the rows of perforations le. The next portion of sheet from the part 10 is indicated by the numeral 15 and is of less length longitudinally of the sheet than are the other portions of the sheet hereinafter described. lmmediately below the part 15 is the part that constitutes the envelop bach and is indicated by the numeral 1 6. @n the ends of this part 16 are the flaps 17 designed to told over the face of the part 16. Below the part 16 is a part 1S to form a portion of the letter sheet and below the part 1S is another corresponding part 19 which forms the bottom of the letter sheet.

1n the construction of the article, it is prepared and made ready tor use by an operator on very simple machinery, which can be operated to produce a large number of the articles rapidly for the reason that none of the members need to be stuck together during the process ot' making the article. ln this way, my improved device is clearly distinguished from an ordinary envelop in which some of the parts must be stuck together during their construction.

When it is desired to write or print a letn ter, the article is placed in the position shown in Fig. 2, and the operator irst places the name ofthe addressee on the upper surface of the part when this is folded three guinmed portions 11.` and 12 are mois-V 4tened and stuclrto the flaps 17 and the end or lower'surfac'e of the part 18, whereupon the lettershefet is securely sealed up and readyto bey stamped and mailed in the ordinary manner. l

fnj'order to open the letter to read the g N'contents thereof, the operator may insert anfordinary/letter opener in the folded portio'nb'etween the parts 10 and 15 and completely sever the Ysheetalong these folded lines. v Hethen grasps the edge of the part andzwhen opening this part, the folded margin comprising the parts 10 and 12 is then torn olf along the two rows of perforations "14; This leaves the sectional portion offthefstrip 10 adherent to the back of lthe-part 18 and the end portions 12 on said l' strip adhering to the side liap 17 as indicated: in Fig. 3. yThen. the two side flaps are folded downwardly and the parts 18 and 19 are folded downwardly, and the part 15 isfthen folded over the part 16, whereupon the letter is incondition to be read and the naine ofthe addressee will appear at the -top fof the sheet on the part 15 and the body of the letter will'appear on the parts 16 and 18 and 19, thus'making it unnecessary to i" have the name of the addressee placed both upon the envelop and the top of the letter sheet. f

One of the advantages of my improved article is that the operator can very readily and he can also very Y formed ofl a single piece of paper, flaps on theside edges of the part that forms the back of the envelop, said side flaps being folded inwardly, one end of the sheet being designed to foldy forwardly over the envelop back to form the envelop front or addressing member, said part being of such length that when folded over the envelop back it will come to a point near the central portion of the envelop back, and whereby the said part when thus folded may be placed in a typewriting machine and the address may be printed on said part and the letter commenced on the inner face of the said back, without removing the letter sheet from the typewriting machine, there being at the end of this envelop front or addressing member a folded sealing strip gunnned at one side and provided with two rows of perforations, the said sealing strip being designed to be sealed to the said side liaps and also to the back of the hereinafter named letter portion between said 'flaps the said parts being so arranged that after being thus sealed the sealing strip may be severed from the envelop front or addressing member, and then it may be conveniently and easily torn along the rows of perforations so that parts of the sealing strip will adhere to said flaps and the remainder to the back of the letter sheet, the other end of the letter sheet being designed to be used for the body of the letter, and being designed to fold over that part of the envelop back on which the first part of that part of the letter back which is designed to receive the first part of the letter, the said parts being so arranged that when sealed as before mentioned the central portions of said sealing flaps will be tightly held to the ad dressing member' and to the back of the letter sheet below, to thereby prevent the possibility of folding the iiaps outwardly and obtaining access to the contents of the envelop without tearing some part of the envelop and letter sheet, said rows of perforations being so arranged that when the gummed strip is severed from the envelop front or addressing member the iiaps may be readily and easily folded outwardlylto thereby sever the gummed strips at the rows of perforations.

Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 22, 1912.

CLAYTON WV. GRAHAM. Witnesses:

M. WALLACE, S. ROBINSON.

Cop-ies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

e Washington, I). C. 

